Schmooples' Den! The DA News Discussion Thread

They are based in Rivain in the north, and we're going north. A lot of attention was paid to them and their lore in TN, with a full 5 of the new characters being introduced being part of this new  faction. "Lord" or "The Lord of Fortune" would be a cool new PC title (regardless of PC gender same as the Warden, the Champion, the Inquisitor; all LoFs are Lords). The Lords have skills that would be invaluable to any DA PC: they fight monsters, they run dungeons, they travel all over Thedas. They find treasure, protect people and engage in the sort of covert/subterfuge stuff that would suit both the previous "spies and heists" version of the game and the whole "Shadow Inquisition omg we must operate secretly and below the radar to limit the possibility of Solas finding out" thing. A LoF would be "someone Solas doesn't know", and the faction as a whole wasn't listed in the list of factions Solas apparently has in-depth knowledge of as is the case with factions like the vint Siccari and the Ben-Hassrath. The LoFs we meet seem to have different backgrounds and reasons for joining the faction; there's wiggle-room there for RPing a backstory and deciding how and why your PC came to be with the faction.

They accept all genders. Their ranks are made up of humans, elves and dwarves, and warriors and rogues with different specialties. This gives space for race selection and class selection in character creation, and for specs after levelling. I see no reason why a Vashoth or Tal-Vashoth couldn't join, especially given the better relationship with Qunari Rivainis have compared to other Thedosians. Same goes for mages; TN is also careful to give us an example of a mage-thief who uses their magic to aid their rogue-like escapades. The LoFs seem quite diverse (not unlike the Wardens), probably they don't limit nationality of their members to "Rivaini only". Being a LoF is also a good reason for any prospective PC to have knowledge of important things that are bound to come up in the game: history, Deep Roads, ancient ruins, artifacts. The Lords also seem to usually act alone or in small groups of 2 or 3 - here's the equivalent of the "you and Alistair are the only Wardens left and the Orlesian ones can't come to help", "it's just you/you and your friend despite the fact that you're part of a big order" shtick.

There's also space for the hypothetical Lord to become caught up in the narrative. The LoFs take contracts, the Shadow Inquisition may have jobs available (they hired Sister Laudine and co as an example) where they aren't disclosing their true identity and reason for needing the job done. The SI are now aware of them and they have done business with them multiple times before (thanks to Dorian and Hollix meeting, and Mateo's involvement in the expedition). The LoFs hunt down, unearth or liberate artifacts. Solas (idol) and his followers (the one who was after the items in the bomb story for example) are after artifacts, for their various ends. The Shadow Inquisition are also hunting for things that could help stop him (Deep roads expedition in TN). I can see scenarios like:

- the Lord is after an artifact for glory or for a job that it transpires the SI are also currently after. They encounter the SI and become mixed up in the narrative
- the Lord is after an artifact for glory or a job that it transpires Solas/his agents are also currently after. They encounter Solas/his agents and become mixed up in the narrative
- the SI hire the Lord to protect and help an agent like Charter on her way to carry out some important SI mission like obtaining an artifact (although it wouldn't be limited to just that option) that will be helpful. The Lord ends up getting mixed up in the narrative
- the Lord is hired by the SI, either knowing who they are or [initially] through a clandestine middle-man etc, to carry out some important mission such as obtaining an artifact that will be helpful. Again it wouldn't be limited to just that option. The true nature of their hirer becomes known to the SI and the Lord becomes mixed up in the narrative
- either the SI or Solas/his agents simply straight-up hire the Lord (remember his agents approached characters like Irian Cestes for recruitment), and they become mixed up in the narrative

The "becomes mixed up in the narrative" thing wouldn't be hard to write at all, its par for the course in games like these. The LoFs may simply also have their own independent concerns about the Solas threat and relating to it - one of their members, Mateo, was in the SI expedition, so they may even be aware.